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Post by amyghost on Jul 15, 2020 19:50:54 GMT
Loved the series and watched it faithfully from beginning to end when it originally aired. In retrospect, I can appreciate some of the criticism that the show became a little too message-heavy and took itself a bit too seriously towards the end, but I suppose that the satiric gas alone wouldn't have survived for that number of years. It still stands as one of network television's tour de force shows and I surely do wish that television in general were turning out products as incisive with regard to war and with the state of the nation in general as this one was. I perhaps watched more episodes of M*A*S*H than I cared too. We didn’t have a t.v. for about 8yrs once my folks emigrated from the UK to NZ and I saw most prime t.v at friends\neighbours homes. It was popular with many but it never really clicked with me. It was often repeated later, but I never went out of my way to watch it contentedly. Hated the theme song, found the presentation flat and the camaraderie seemed superficial. Plus, I think the biggest thing for me, was that I found the cast largely unattractive. I will admit that, in later years, I tend to find the ensemble camaraderie of Barney Miller to be even better than that of MASH, and the series itself has aged better overall. I'm still fond of the show though, and have an especial liking for the episodes that featured Alan Arbus as Sidney Freedman, the visiting psychiatrist.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 15, 2020 23:41:29 GMT
BJ's moustache is kind of the equivalent of Fonzie "jumping the shark". The show began its slippage after BJ grew his moustache.
MASH with original cast? Awesome
MASH with BJ without the 'stache? Even better
MASH after the moustache? Touch and go.
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Post by MCDemuth on Jul 15, 2020 23:57:16 GMT
My favorite recurring character on MASH was Col Flagg. One of mine too! From "Rally 'Round the Flagg, Boys"... which probably would never be made today... Colonel Flagg : You took a yellow red before a white American. That's pretty pinko.Hawkeye : You're even boring in Technicolor.Colonel Flagg : Your butt is in my sling.Hawkeye : Alright, take me I'm yours.Colonel Flagg : I knew it, you're one of those too.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 16, 2020 0:33:08 GMT
I perhaps watched more episodes of M*A*S*H than I cared too. We didn’t have a t.v. for about 8yrs once my folks emigrated from the UK to NZ and I saw most prime t.v at friends\neighbours homes. It was popular with many but it never really clicked with me. It was often repeated later, but I never went out of my way to watch it contentedly. Hated the theme song, found the presentation flat and the camaraderie seemed superficial. Plus, I think the biggest thing for me, was that I found the cast largely unattractive. I will admit that, in later years, I tend to find the ensemble camaraderie of Barney Miller to be even better than that of MASH, and the series itself has aged better overall. I'm still fond of the show though, and have an especial liking for the episodes that featured Alan Arbus as Sidney Freedman, the visiting psychiatrist. I've been rediscovering how good of a show Barney Miller was. Fantastic show with a terrific cast. I'm not a big fan of the early seasons, but once Dietrich got there, the show really came together nicely. It's funny watching some Barney Miller episodes where a topic that seemed out of the ordinary in the late 70's now seems perfectly normal. On some levels, the show was way ahead of its time.
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Post by amyghost on Jul 16, 2020 11:05:01 GMT
I will admit that, in later years, I tend to find the ensemble camaraderie of Barney Miller to be even better than that of MASH, and the series itself has aged better overall. I'm still fond of the show though, and have an especial liking for the episodes that featured Alan Arbus as Sidney Freedman, the visiting psychiatrist. I've been rediscovering how good of a show Barney Miller was. Fantastic show with a terrific cast. I'm not a big fan of the early seasons, but once Dietrich got there, the show really came together nicely. It's funny watching some Barney Miller episodes where a topic that seemed out of the ordinary in the late 70's now seems perfectly normal. On some levels, the show was way ahead of its time. I watch it in rerun religiously, and I continue to be struck by how little so many topical things have changed since Barney's era. Even the lack of high-tech stuff (computers, etc.) isn't distracting, as that can be seen as reflective of the precinct's relative poverty in the pecking order--even if the gadgetry had existed back then, the 12th would have been amongst the last to be allocated any of, if ever. Having lived through those years myself, it's almost spooky just how relevant the show remains on many subjects; I attribute part of that to the writers' insistence on drawing much of the comedy from acutely observed human character, which doesn't change all that much in any time. The show could be brought back today (if the same cast and writers were possible, of course) and dropped into the middle of the present world--and nothing much about the show's tone would really have to change.
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Post by millar70 on Jul 17, 2020 1:49:35 GMT
I've been rediscovering how good of a show Barney Miller was. Fantastic show with a terrific cast. I'm not a big fan of the early seasons, but once Dietrich got there, the show really came together nicely. It's funny watching some Barney Miller episodes where a topic that seemed out of the ordinary in the late 70's now seems perfectly normal. On some levels, the show was way ahead of its time. I watch it in rerun religiously, and I continue to be struck by how little so many topical things have changed since Barney's era. Even the lack of high-tech stuff (computers, etc.) isn't distracting, as that can be seen as reflective of the precinct's relative poverty in the pecking order--even if the gadgetry had existed back then, the 12th would have been amongst the last to be allocated any of, if ever. Having lived through those years myself, it's almost spooky just how relevant the show remains on many subjects; I attribute part of that to the writers' insistence on drawing much of the comedy from acutely observed human character, which doesn't change all that much in any time. The show could be brought back today (if the same cast and writers were possible, of course) and dropped into the middle of the present world--and nothing much about the show's tone would really have to change. Couldn't have said it better myself. My favorite character might be Inspector Luger......James Gregory was SOOOOOO good in that role.
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Post by amyghost on Jul 17, 2020 14:07:52 GMT
I watch it in rerun religiously, and I continue to be struck by how little so many topical things have changed since Barney's era. Even the lack of high-tech stuff (computers, etc.) isn't distracting, as that can be seen as reflective of the precinct's relative poverty in the pecking order--even if the gadgetry had existed back then, the 12th would have been amongst the last to be allocated any of, if ever. Having lived through those years myself, it's almost spooky just how relevant the show remains on many subjects; I attribute part of that to the writers' insistence on drawing much of the comedy from acutely observed human character, which doesn't change all that much in any time. The show could be brought back today (if the same cast and writers were possible, of course) and dropped into the middle of the present world--and nothing much about the show's tone would really have to change. Couldn't have said it better myself. My favorite character might be Inspector Luger......James Gregory was SOOOOOO good in that role. Luger is hilarious--and a testament to James Gregory's acting ability, that he could allow the character to teeter so close to the edge of caricature so much of the time, and yet still make the old inspector a human and ultimately sympathetic creation. The show had an astonishing cast, all of whom were capable of bringing a lot more than simply comic mannerisms to their characters, indeed making them so three dimensional that it's sometimes hard not to think of them as 'real people'. Even Ron Carey, who mostly played Levitt as a bit of a cartoon was able to give heft to the role when called for--as in the episode where 'little Levitt' gets called out by his co-workers for ratting them out to Internal Affairs. His response for why he did so is true-feeling and adds depth to Levitt, and this is when Carey not only had to be dramatically believable, but to be so when wearing a dress! I don't think television ever had a better ensemble cast mixed with a better group of writers than it did with this series.
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Post by novastar6 on Jul 18, 2020 6:54:31 GMT
My favorite episode has always been "The Smell of Music". Aside from the famous last episode, I don't know that there are actually any 'classic' episodes that everybody automatically knows, nothing in M*A*S*H is like Lucy stomping grapes or working in the chocolate factory that EVERYBODY knows even if they've never seen the episode, but to me that's a classic episode.
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autumn
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Post by autumn on Jul 31, 2020 1:07:16 GMT
I'm watching M*A*S*H Season 7, Episode 1, which is the first one featuring BJ's infamous moustache.
I don't like it.
Isn't this where you guys said it starts to go downhill from here?
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Post by Catman on Jul 31, 2020 10:47:11 GMT
I'm watching M*A*S*H Season 7, Episode 1, which is the first one featuring BJ's infamous moustache. I don't like it. Isn't this where you guys said it starts to go downhill from here? Yeah. With Radar's changing personality and Klinger's reformation, things really start to get boring. And the acting begins to get more and more wooden.
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autumn
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Post by autumn on Jul 31, 2020 21:33:31 GMT
I'm watching M*A*S*H Season 7, Episode 1, which is the first one featuring BJ's infamous moustache. I don't like it. Isn't this where you guys said it starts to go downhill from here? Yeah. With Radar's changing personality and Klinger's reformation, things really start to get boring. And the acting begins to get more and more wooden. What's Klinger's reformation? Is he not wearing dresses? I did notice that someone else got a discharge (what is it, a section 8? I don't know these things. But to be fair, he did discharge his firearm at imaginary planes). Does Klinger start to straighten out and become tried and true? I hope not because he's one of the primary reasons I love this show. He's one of the BEST characters ever. I'm glad they got rid of Frank Burns. I never could stand him, and I'm much more fond of Winchester. (Did you know he was gay and didn't come out until much, much later in life? Such a loss to feel pressured to live his whole life in secret like that). What happens with Radar? He's another one, by far and away one of the BEST characters in my opinion, him and his teddy bear, how he knows what everyone is going to say before they say it. Does anyone remember when Potter made an appearance waaaayy back when, he actually came across as a Section 8 himself, and not only that, he was extremely racist, and when a black pilot was being interviewed, Potter blew it re: his character and told the pilot to "do a little number" because it was "in his blood" and he began singing and dancing and woo-hoo'ing around. I'm surprised no one remembers that episode because now Potter's extremely level headed and most definitely NOT even remotely racist and very compassionate. But his personality is diametrically opposed to that one appearance he made in that one episode. Anyone?
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Aug 1, 2020 14:32:10 GMT
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Post by marianne48 on Aug 1, 2020 14:32:10 GMT
"The General Flipped at Dawn" was that episode with Harry Morgan.
For me, the "Jump the Shark" episode was the one using one of my least favorite sitcom cliches-the "one man show." That's when virtually the entire episode consists of a monologue delivered by the show's "star." In this case, the contrived set-up had Hawkeye getting a concussion in a jeep mishap snd being rescued by a Korean family. He then spends the rest of the episode delivering a sermon while the family, who can neither speak nor understand English (so no lines for them!) sits in bemused silence. Basically Alda's ego trip.
I didn't like how Radar regressed from a clever young guy who pretty much ran the camp to a naive child in the later episodes. The show should have ended shortly after his departure. One thing about Gary Burghoff--his left hand had some kind of deformity or paralysis, and if you watch him on the show, note how cleverly he always managed to disguise this.
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autumn
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Post by autumn on Aug 3, 2020 2:11:54 GMT
"The General Flipped at Dawn" was that episode with Harry Morgan. For me, the "Jump the Shark" episode was the one using one of my least favorite sitcom cliches-the "one man show." That's when virtually the entire episode consists of a monologue delivered by the show's "star." In this case, the contrived set-up had Hawkeye getting a concussion in a jeep mishap snd being rescued by a Korean family. He then spends the rest of the episode delivering a sermon while the family, who can neither speak nor understand English (so no lines for them!) sits in bemused silence. Basically Alda's ego trip. I didn't like how Radar regressed from a clever young guy who pretty much ran the camp to a naive child in the later episodes. The show should have ended shortly after his departure. One thing about Gary Burghoff--his left hand had some kind of deformity or paralysis, and if you watch him on the show, note how cleverly he always managed to disguise this. You remember Potter being off his rocker? Now suddenly he's a totally normal guy, and not a racist bigot who really should've had a Section 8 himself. Let me get this right, you're telling me Radar leaves the show? I never noticed that he had anything wrong with his left hand (but now that you mentioned it, I'll keep an eye out for it. He might have hand drop or something). How odd I've never noticed anything of the sort. How did you pick it up?
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Post by marianne48 on Aug 3, 2020 2:52:04 GMT
Radar was sent home in one of the last few years; he receives word that his uncle has passed away, and he's given a hardship discharge to help his mother run the farm back in Iowa (he does meet a nice Army nurse on the way home, however). When his little head doesn't appear in the very beginning of the opening credits, that's the tip-off that it's going to be one those episodes from the later seasons.
It wasn't Potter who was off his rocker, but Morgan in another role as a general. Somebody on the show must have liked his appearance enough to cast him as Potter.
I didn't notice the hand abnormality until I read about it in one of those weird internet stories that pop up now and then--something like "Medical Secrets of the Stars" or whatever. Then I couldn't help but watch Burghoff on the show with a kind of morbid interest in seeing how he was able to unobtrusively hide his left hand behind a clipboard or something so it was unnoticeable.
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autumn
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Post by autumn on Aug 3, 2020 3:00:40 GMT
Radar was sent home in one of the last few years; he receives word that his uncle has passed away, and he's given a hardship discharge to help his mother run the farm back in Iowa (he does meet a nice Army nurse on the way home, however). When his little head doesn't appear in the very beginning of the opening credits, that's the tip-off that it's going to be one those episodes from the later seasons. It wasn't Potter who was off his rocker, but Morgan in another role as a general. Somebody on the show must have liked his appearance enough to cast him as Potter. I didn't notice the hand abnormality until I read about it in one of those weird internet stories that pop up now and then--something like "Medical Secrets of the Stars" or whatever. Then I couldn't help but watch Burghoff on the show with a kind of morbid interest in seeing how he was able to unobtrusively hide his left hand behind a clipboard or something so it was unnoticeable. I'm confused. Doesn't Harry Morgan play Col. Potter? Aren't they one in the same? Weren't they one in the same, except now they're behaving vastly different? I aaaallwaayys look forward to Radar's little brown hat over in the left hand corner when the choppers are flying in. He's one of the best characters. I also really like Jamie Farr's character, especially the crazier he gets. I love how he wears a nurse's uniform in the OR. I don't like seeing him in his green fatigues.
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Post by marianne48 on Aug 3, 2020 3:08:37 GMT
Morgan played two different characters--the crazy general in that one episode, and later, Colonel Potter. It's not uncommon for an actor to appear in a guest shot on a show and then later as a different character (or even a regular). That's another weird list that can be Googled.
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autumn
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Post by autumn on Aug 4, 2020 2:05:56 GMT
Morgan played two different characters--the crazy general in that one episode, and later, Colonel Potter. It's not uncommon for an actor to appear in a guest shot on a show and then later as a different character (or even a regular). That's another weird list that can be Googled. Oooohhh, thank you! No wonder I was so confused.
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Aug 9, 2020 20:58:47 GMT
The one thing that always bothered me about MASH was doctors drinking. Too many times you see one of them with a glass in their hands when wounded come it. Ever had moonshine? No one should be allowed near a hospital when drinking that. And, yes, I should repeat to myself its just a show, I should really just relax. But MASH prided itself on being a show on a higher plane.
There was a lot of drinking it the book. but a real MASH unit on Korea had 20-30 surgeons. They worked in eight hour shifts then were free to carouse. The show couldn't pay for that many extras but you got the feeling in the movie how bit a MASH was.
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